The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a powerful unlocked phone that combines a vivid 4K HDR display with the latest Snapdragon processor and strong audio capabilities, but falls short in other areas.

It's hard to take your eyes off of the unlocked Xperia XZ Premium ($799.99). It's the first phone with a 4K HDR display, packing a staggering number of pixels into a 5.5-inch panel. It also has a powerful Snapdragon 835 processor, high-resolution audio, stereo speakers, and a waterproof build. That said, the overall design is a bit dated compared with competing flagships that pare down the body while expanding screen size, and the phone's fingerprint sensor is disabled for US users. There's also little 4K HDR content available to take advantage of that gorgeous screen. The XZ Premium offers a lot to like, but the Samsung Galaxy S8 remains a more well-rounded alternative and our Editors' Choice.

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A Dated Design

The Xperia XZ Premium doesn't surprise in terms of design. Available in black, chrome (silver), and pink, it's practically identical to the Xperia XZ, with the same rectangular shape, rounded sides, and unfashionably large bezel. In an era of phones with edge-to-edge displays like the Galaxy S8 and the LG G6, the XZ Premium looks dated (and it is, if you look even further back to phones like 2013's Xperia ZL). That said, it has a nice premium, high-quality look and feel thanks to matching panes of Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back, giving it a highly polished, mirror-like finish. It picks up fingerprints pretty easily though.

The phone measures 6.1 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.9 ounces. You can almost use it with one hand due to the friendly, rounded sides, but the sizable bezel makes it just too big to reach across with your thumb. The tall, narrow Galaxy S8 (5.9 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches, 5.5 ounces) and LG G6 (5.9 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches, 5.8 ounces) are both easier to use.

A dual-SIM and microSD card slot are accessible through a flap on the left side. There's also a USB-C charging port that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. A fingerprint sensor is integrated with the power button on the right, but it isn't activated in the US, which is disappointing, as even entry-level phones are starting to include this feature. Also on the right is a mushy volume rocker and a camera shutter key. A 3.5mm headphone jack is on top, and there's a pair of stereo speakers on the front.

The XZ Premium is IP65/68 waterproof, meaning it can withstand immersion in up to five feet of water for 30 minutes. It worked fine after being fully immersed in a bowl.

It's All About the Display

Forget about what the XZ Premium looks like, you're here for the display. It's the world's first 5.5-inch 4K (3,840-by-2,160) HDR IPS display on a smartphone. If you haven't yet done the math, that's a staggering 807 pixels per inch. It's by far the sharpest panel we've ever seen on a phone, beating out the Quad HD Galaxy S8 (570ppi) and G6 (565ppi). Text and graphics are incredibly vivid, but to some extent it's overkill. There are very few instances in which you can truly distinguish between 4K and Quad HD, at least with a screen this size. Most of the time the phone is simply rendering upscaled 1080p. There's also no option for you to up or downscale resolution, unlike the S8.

As for HDR, it gives the phone deep blacks, rich whites, better contrast, and more vivid colors. But it only works with compatible content, which is still limited, though we'll likely start seeing more of it as more phones support the standard.

Network Performance and Connectivity

The XZ Premium is available unlocked and supports LTE bands 1/2/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/19/20/26/28/29/32/38/39/40/41, for use on GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. During our testing in midtown Manhattan, we experienced solid network connectivity on T-Mobile, recording a top download speed of 11.41Mbps, which is similar to other phones we've tested on the network recently. The phone supports Cat 16 LTE with 4x4 MIMO, allowing it to achieve gigabit download speeds once those networks roll out. Additional connectivity options include dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC.

Call quality is great. Transmissions are clear and voices sound natural. Earpiece volume is good and noise cancellation effectively blots out the vast majority of background noise with only rare instances of crackling from wind.

Awesome Audio

The XZ Premium supports high-resolution audio with ALAC, DSD, FLAC, and LPCM file formats. The DSEE HX protocol enhances the quality of compressed music files by restoring high-range sound and employing digital noise cancellation. I tested the feature with a pair of Sennheiser HD630VB headphones and was impressed with the uniformly crisp highs, mids, and lows the phone produced. Details really came though, and bass was deep and rich without being overblown.

Bluetooth users aren't left out in the cold. The phone supports Bluetooth 5.0, and aptX and LDAC codecs, both of which enhance audio quality with compatible headphones like the Sony MDR-1000X. Bluetooth 5.0 isn't supported on any headphones yet, but it'll let you stream audio to more than one pair at a time, improve quality, and extend range.

The one disappointing aspect to the audio experience is speaker quality. Despite having stereo speakers, I found audio to be flat and tinny at the highest volume. It wasn't as room-filling as other phones with dual speakers like the ZTE Axon 7, and was barely audible over the sound of a nearby fan.

Powerful Hardware

The XZ Premium packs plenty of power under the hood with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Because it's running apps at 1080p, it performs exceedingly well on benchmark tests despite having a 4K display. On the AnTuTu benchmark (a measure of overall system performance), it scores 172,667, a bit higher than the Galaxy S8 which has the same chipset (158,266), and head and shoulders above the Snapdragon 821-powered LG G6 (136,907). If you downscale the S8 to 1080p, the results are closer (163,756), but the XZ Premium still pulls ahead because of its mostly stock UI.

Overall performance is smooth. We've reached the point where flagship phones and even midrange ones like the Moto G5 Plus can run apps with nary a stutter, so the XZ Premium with 4GB of RAM has no problem. It can handle plenty of multitasking as well as high-end games like Injustice 2 and GTA: San Andreas.

Battery life is disappointing. The phone clocked just 4 hours in our rundown test, which streams full-screen video over LTE with screen brightness set to maximum. That's less than the Galaxy S8 (5 hours, 35 minutes) and the G6 (5 hours, 57 minutes).

A revamped Smart Stamina mode optimizes power by learning usage habits and turning off Wi-Fi and other features you may not be using at certain times of the day. Qnovo, meanwhile, manages charging cycles to lengthen the lifespan of your battery, allowing fast charging when you first plug in, then trickle charging as you get closer to full. These features are difficult to measure in our video test and may result in better battery life for everyday usage.

Impressive Camera Performance

The 19-megapixel camera on the back is packed with features. For starters, it has the same RGB and IR sensors as the Xperia XZ that improve color reproduction and focus speed respectively. There's also a CMOS sensor with phase detection autofocus that improves low-light shooting. Finally, you have Motion Eye, a memory-embedded sensor that immediately processes images to minimize distortion and reduce post-processing time, a feature you also find on Sony's a9 full-frame mirrorless camera.

The result of all this hardware? The Xperia XZ Premium comes within a hair of matching the Samsung Galaxy S8 in image quality, which we consider the top camera phone on the market right now.

Picture quality is strong outdoors and in good lighting, which can be expected from any flagship phone these days. The real test comes with low-light performance. We took a variety of test shots under various lighting conditions, some on a cloudy day, some indoors, and others under irregular lighting, which you can see in the images below.

Overall, the Galaxy S8 edges out the XZ Premium, showing more detail like individual veins and crinkles in leaves, and more nuance in shadows. Color reproduction is good, though the Premium tints green a shade or two. Noise reduction on the S8 is a bit better, though in the case of some indoor shots (such as the Red Mecha), the S8 blurred a bit. The XZ Premium has manual controls, so with some tweaking of ISO and shutter speed, you can match the low-light performance of the S8.

One of the features I had the most fun testing is slow-motion recording. The XZ Premium is capable of shooting video at a ridiculous 960fps. It only works well in good lighting and shoots in bursts of six seconds, but when it works, it results in some very cool video, as you can see below.

1080p recording at 60fps and 4K at 30fps is clear and stable. The latter can cause the phone to warm up, though we didn't encounter any overheating. The 13-megapixel front camera takes crisp selfies and is great for video chats.

Software

In terms of software, you get Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Sony's custom user interface running on top. It's not a heavy UI layer, and aside from some minor visual and animation changes, it'll be familiar to most Android users. Sony incorporates Xperia Actions with various smart features for event notifications, scheduling, and daily briefings. At the time of testing, Xperia Actions wasn't available.

There's some bloatware. You'll find Amazon, AVG Protection, Facebook, Lifelog, Lounge, Movie Creator, PlayStation, Sketch, Spotify, Video & TV Side View, and What's New preinstalled. None of the apps can be deleted, only disabled. Out of 64GB of total storage, you're left with 47.37GB, which is ample for apps, photos, and video. You can always add a microSD card if you need more space.

Conclusions

At $800, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is one of the costliest flagship phones you can buy. In terms of hardware, it matches most of its rivals with smooth, fast performance, excellent camera quality, and high-resolution audio. It also has the sharpest display of any smartphone available. But it's held back by a bezel-heavy design that makes the phone look outdated and feel unwieldy compared with the sleek Samsung Galaxy S8. It's also missing a fingerprint sensor and won't work on Sprint or Verizon. And while the 4K HDR display is impressive, right now it feels a bit useless due to the paucity of content available. The Galaxy S8 offers largely similar features on all the main carriers for a few dollars less, making it out Editors' Choice. If you want to save some money, the upcoming OnePlus 5 looks like a promising alternative.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Bottom Line: The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a powerful unlocked phone that combines a vivid 4K HDR display with the latest Snapdragon processor and strong audio capabilities, but falls short in other areas.

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About the Author

Ajay Kumar is PCMag's Analyst obsessed with all things mobile. Ajay reviews phones, tablets, accessories, and just about any other gadget that can be carried around with you. In his spare time he games on the rig he built himself, collects Nintendo amiibos, and tries his hand at publishing a novel. Follow Ajay on Twitter @Ajay_H_Kumar.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

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